How Bourbon Whiskey Is Made

An Illustrated Description of the Production of Bourbon

When you ask the master distiller of a bourbon distillery about the strongest influences in bourbon production, you get the following answer: the grain, the yeast strains, the new white oak barrels and their storage have the biggest influence on the taste of bourbon.

What's the reasoning behind this statement, which tells nothing about the particulars of the production process? The answer is as simple as it is convincing. The American distilleries usually have the same production equipment and the same climate. Therefore the distinguishing features of individual bourbon producers must be sought on another level.

Maker's Mark - New make whiskey receiver

A word on Tennessee whiskey: Tennessee whiskey separated from Kentucky straight bourbon and the Bourbon Act for marketing reasons. However, the production process of these two whisky types is the same, except that Tennessee whiskey is charcoal-filtered before it is filled into barrels.

On the following pages the production process is described in its chronological order: